“In the pandemic, I started teaching cooking thinking it would help children pass time and keep their minds happy. I didn’t really think then about whether I would continue in the future. But once the pandemic ended, I noticed that many parents wanted their children
Meera Mukherjee, Karuna Saha, Shyamsree Basu, Shanu Lahiri, and Santosh Rohatgi (from the right) In Bengal, the 1950s witnessed protest movements within the academic milieu, most importantly amongst university students. In the last decade, student bodies and unions began to assume a strong voice in academic
The year was 1957. Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra collaborated on a short film, A Chairy Tale, for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). McLaren directed the film starring Jutra, which portrays a dissonant relationship between a man and a chair. The quirky 9-minute,
The idyllic villages of West Bengal, with their pristine natural beauty and refreshing ambiance, have an irresistible allure, drawing in a swarm of weary city dwellers who yearn for an escape from the suffocating pollution and deafening noise that define metropolitan life. Amidst the rustling
Khetra Kuthi Messbari GB takes a trip to Kolkata’s old charms, the mess-baris or boarding houses that sprang up during colonial rule. Some of them still exist. In this 2nd part of Mess Bari series, correspondent Mouni Mondal takes a trip to Shibram’s Messbari. Incidentally she
Poems were an inseparable part of Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s films, a fact well known to his ardent fans. Maybe that is the reason why Bengal is celebrating the "1st Buddhadeb Dasgupta Film & Poetry Festival with such pomp. The renowned Buddhadeb Dasgupta Memorial Trust, founded by
In 1883, Parsi businessman Jamshedji Framji Madan came to Kolkata. With a background in theatre, he was keen on switching over to the stage from his earlier business of army canteen supplies. By 1902, Madan had bought Corinthian Hall (renamed Corinthian Theatre), and was screening
“None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try.” – Mark Twain In this fast-paced world where everything is transient and innovations keep replacing older models, there are people who hate to sever their ties with
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…” Poet Allen Ginsberg first read out these lines from his poem ‘Howl’ at a reading at the Six Gallery in December 1955. The reading was an immediate success and nearly 65 years on, the lines
'Mess Bari' refers to the numerous boarding houses that sprang up like mushrooms in and around North Kolkata between late 19th century and mid-20th century and catered to young men who flocked to the city, looking for jobs and education. These boarding houses were once an